The Explorer and the Exile
by Nephalos
Summary: Ezreal sets out on an expedition at the behest of his professor uncle, ignoring warnings of potential Noxian activity. What he finds is something far from his original expectations - a Noxian exiled with a broken blade. Can he help her look beyond her past, and mend her broken heart?
1. Chapter 1: The City of Progress

Update May 2016 - **This is the Teen rated version** of my most renowned story on this site. I've decided that it needed a rewrite to both improve the cohesion of the story, and also to allow it to agree with the new lore. The new M-rated version is available here (NSFW), and the old, archived version, is available here (NSFW).

Look forward for more additions and a second plot arc in the future.

 _ **Chapter 1 - The City of Progress**_

Ah, Piltover. There it was - crowned in a halo of illuminated rain, courtesy of the ever-glowing star rods. It was a welcome sight to my weary eyes, but I had to brush my rain streaked hair out of the way to see it properly. The sodden dirt path that had brought me from the mountains southward shortly merged with the neat chessboard-square stone sidewalk.

The pictures of Piltover displayed in all of the postcards and hexnet ads were always from the front - displaying a flattering view of the grand entrance and its bridge. But there were other ways to get into the city.

The towers at the center of the city formed a nighttime skyline that could only belong in the City of Progress. One of them, the Tower of Meteorological Studies, was not far from my eventual destination: a repurposed classroom at the Institute of Advanced Techmaturgical Studies. It wasn't anything grandiose, but it was home. Thinking of it inevitably brought a rain-stained smile to my face, recalling the few times a confused student had wandered in when I had forgotten to lock my door, only to find me sleeping. Some of them apologized and stumbled out, some of them closed the door without a word, and one particularly bold freshman girl woke me up to ask for my autograph.

The lunar light played across the water on the square stones of the road - a shimmering plane that displayed the minor flaws in the levels of craftsmen's work. It was too early even for the morning bakers or deliverymen to be out, and so I was alone. Just the road, the lights of the city, and the now waning rain.

It seemed at least one person was still up. As I approached the Institute grounds and made my way through the side gates, I noticed the subtle blue glow from Jayce's laboratory in the College of Mechanics and Engineering, the foremost building on the campus grounds. The neat silver gates swung on oiled hinges, and I entered, taking the marble thoroughfare through the manicured gardens.

When I reached the door, I leaned against it and rolled my pack off of the opposite shoulder, rifling through the backmost pocket and retrieving the key. The door slid open easily, and I walked inside, making certain to lock it behind me afterward - even though classes would technically be starting in a few short hours, Uncle Lyte had berated me more than a few times for "carelessness" and "allowing lapses in security", although I doubted he was up at this hour.

I looked into the window of Jayce's laboratory door. As heavy as it was, I could still hear the loud music he had playing over the speaker system. Some kind of punk music, probably from Zaun of all places. I knocked on the door, and he looked over. At first, there was a look of concern - after all, activity at this hour was supposed to be nonexistent - but then he saw me and his characteristic lopsided smile lit across his three-day-beard. He took his time putting down the polishing cloths and metal he was working with and walked over to open the door.

"So, how's the second most handsome man in Piltover?" I asked, grinning and giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder.

"Wow, how flattering. I'd guess who won the honor of first, but something tells me if I did it would make his head explode," Jayce rolled his eyes before giving me a light embrace, which I returned.

Although Jayce had the reputation of being a very well-groomed man, his appearance now very much belied this - oil stained shirt, beaten leather gloves, unkempt facial hair... I just knew he cleaned up well. Of course, right now I probably didn't look too much better.

"You know, Lyte almost delayed his trip to Demacia because you weren't back. He didn't think you'd take this long. What happened? Run into a fangirl? Noxians? Hexnet journalists?" Jayce asked, sitting on a stool in front of his work table.

"I wish. No, just a really long, dark path in a cave. But I did find a few well-preserved books," I said, gesturing to my pack where said books were.

"I'm sure the Prof will want to hear all about it. I've got to finish this here, and then I'll catch some Z's. I think Janna's throwing a party tomorrow, she'll want me to help out," he said, and then groaned. "Well, what can you do...?" He added and shrugged.

"Oh, have fun. I'll catch you around. Don't work too hard," I said, giving him a half-wave before opening the door and heading out, already fantasizing about the shower I would take in mere minutes. Although first, I'd need to drop off the books in-

I heard someone walking behind me and turned around to see Jayce holding an envelope.

"Hey, Ezreal. I forgot; Lyte told me to give this to you, since you'll probably depart again before he gets back. Don't forget to call him on your hexcomm. Or, try to. You know how the service to Demacia is."

I gave him a mischievous grin, "I mean, when he's there I can usually just not and claim that I tried," I took the envelope and looked it over.

"You should try. He seemed a little concerned about this one," Jayce said, his blue eyes meeting mine. I ran a hand over the thin stubble on my chin - something that took quite some time to grow.

"Yeah, I'll call him. I'll have to read this over tomorrow. I need a shower," I said, looking back to Jayce and adding with a playful grasp on his shoulder, "You need a shower. I'll catch you later."

Jayce nodded and returned a smile, "Right. Night, Ezreal."

He turned and walked back to his shop. I suspected it wouldn't be long before he departed to his own house. Technically, he had a small apartment above the lab, but he lived with Janna, so he only used it on rare occasions.

The envelope my Uncle had left for me was heavier than usual, and the irregular bulges told me that he had included a few relevant artifacts. As tired as I was, I could feel the excitement and wanderlust flowing through me as I turned the package over in my gloved hands while walking down the hall.

I fished my room key from my pocket to open the door, then opened it and set my pack down in one motion. I withdrew the books - in their alloy case - from the pack. The outside of the case was damp, as were most of my clothes, which I removed and spread out to dry. I could still smell the musk of the cave moss I had crawled through in the tighter passages. I put my uncles package on the opposite side of the desk, atop a few books I had been using for research. The temptation to reach for it, open it, explore it was palpable - but I stopped myself. If I delved into it now, I'd be up for another six hours, and right now I need two things.

The first of which was a shower. I paced toward the bathroom, rounding another stack of books before I opened that door. The bathroom was small, and technically my shower was a modified eyewash station. It functioned.

The water pouring over me drove the weary thoughts of the trail from my mind. Jayce was a friendly, if work-minded, individual, but he had seemed genuinely concerned when he brought up my Uncle's package. Had he said something to Jayce before he left? The one thing I did know is that adventure certainly awaited. If there was danger to be had, I could face it. My uncle had an overprotective streak, and he had overreacted to the thought of me tangling with a few cave spiders before.

After the shower, I dried off, shaved, and put on nightclothes before falling into bed and resting. The large map of Valoran loomed over me, but in the dark now the only lines I could make out were the ones that lingered in my memory. I closed my eyes, wondering where tomorrow would take me.


	2. Chapter 2: New Horizons

_**Chapter 2 - New Horizons**_

Eventually, the ticking of the clock against the wall found a way to nudge me from sleep. I sat up and read its face. Twelve Thirty. Not bad. I dressed quickly and picked up the alloy case containing the recovered artifacts. I checked over my hair briefly before stepping outside, into a veritable throng of students.

"Ezreal?" someone said. I glanced around, looking at a student close to my age, wearing glasses.

"The one; the only," I said giving him a wink before I extended a hand toward him, "And your name?"

"I'm, uh, late to class. I mean, Thomas," he said as we shook hands. I let go and nodded, leaving him to depart. I wanted to get to Lyte's office before I started to plan out my next venture.

I had never seen him before - it's possible that he was a freshman. Usually the new ones were like this - stopping Jayce and I for autographs and such. The others had gotten used to it by now, and so I was able to navigate my way through the halls without too much interference, eventually reaching the staff lounge. My Uncle had given me a spare key to his office for this exact reason. I gave a wave to a few other members of the staff, although most of them were too busy mingling among mounds of paperwork, coffee, and the subtle fragrance of carpet shampoo.

The smell of Lyte's office was atypical in that respect. Anyone who had entered the office, even if my Uncle wasn't in it, could tell a lot about the man. The office was immaculate - the only thing on his desk was a hexnet access point and his hextech monitor. Lyte's senior status meant that he had been granted one of the largest offices in the building, although about half of it was used for the storage of old artifacts, currently kept in locked glass cases. Even he didn't trust me with the key to those, as they had to "be kept at very specific temperatures and humidities", and so I merely placed the alloy case, still sealed, on his desk before departing.

I stopped by the cafeteria to pick up some lunch before walking back to my room.

My room was a far cry from my Uncle's office, although it wasn't totally lacking in organization. I believe it had once been a science lab, and so it had a large counter bordering the entire room. I had organized all of my research books on the counter against one of the walls, and put everything else against the other - my map rested in the middle, marked with more than a few flags denoting past travels.

I turned over Lyte's envelope once more before opening it gingerly and coaxing the contents out onto the metallic surface of the counter. It seemed that the unusual shape of the package was caused by a few stones my uncle had included. They were river stones; dark, smooth ovals smaller than my palm. Except they had be inscribed by surprisingly intricate runes - one rune in the center of each stone. Ancient Noxian, if I had to guess. There were three included, and I put them aside for now, to find the letter Lyte had left for me.

" _Ezreal,_

 _My colleagues in the Demacian Archaeological Society have discovered signs of an underground Noxian temple in the Ironspikes, South of Piltover. Please find accompanying my letter two maps and a diagram of the Ancient Noxian runes we've been able to translate. From what we've been able to discern, the language does not have an alphabet, instead having a symbol for every word. Still, there are some relationships between the symbols, and perhaps you can discern what lies on the stones. One of them is the symbol of the God who was once worshipped there - Ganthast is his name - I've drawn it below. The others are unknown, but perhaps they have something to do with his place of worship._

 _Be warned - this temple could house dormant arcane power. Some of the Ancient Noxians were known to utilize guardians from the realm of magic to protect their establishments._

 _Take care. Hopefully I'll see you when you return in a week or so._

 _Love,_

 _Professor Lyte"_

I glanced at the symbol below. It looked like a simplistic drawing of an inverted tree, albeit more orderly and with a decidedly sinister cast, and one of the stones I had put aside did indeed match up with it. For now, I put the letter and the translation page next to the stones and glanced at the two maps. One was a larger scale map, displaying a route from Piltover to the Ironspikes, nearly due south of the inlet that divided Piltover from Zaun. The other was a much closer map, detailing the mountains themselves. A team of cartographers had made a basic map of the region some years ago. Now I would further define it, and reveal the location of any hidden pathways which may house ancient Noxian secrets.

I spent the next few hours making the usual preparations for the journey: clothes, an excess of rations, and the necessary items for shelter and cooking. I was halfway through packing my clothes into my pack when a knock interrupted the process.

I briefed my explanation that this classroom was not truly a part of the sciences college and walked over, opening the door. Surprisingly, I found a pink-haired woman with a rather extreme haircut, wearing the navy blue and black of the Piltover Patrol, complete with the beret and the badge. She was familiar - I think Caitlyn had introduced me to her at one point.

"Hey, uh, Vi, right?" I asked. Reaffirming my suspicion, I noticed the tattoo proclaiming 'VI' on her left cheek, and another reading '6' on the left side of her surprisingly exposed cleavage. The last time I had seen her, she had been wearing massive hextech gauntlets, as she had been on patrol. She was absent those now, thankfully.

"The very one. Jayce mentioned you might be heading out today, for one of your expeditions," She said, looking around outside. A small crowd of students had gathered, and Vi frowned and shot a few of them glares.

"Here, why don't we step inside," I said, gesturing inwards. She nodded, and blew a large pink bubble from the gum she was chewing. She stepped inside, and I shut the door behind her. I extended a hand to her, wanting to be formal about greeting her.

She smiled - apparently being away from the crowd made her feel more at ease - and took my hand. The manicured hot pink of her nails belied her crushing grip, and I was taken aback. I only hoped I hadn't come across as a dead fish.

"Nice to meet you in a more, uh, relaxed setting," Vi said. "I'll cut to the quick. Caitlyn obviously cares about you if she asked me to stop by on my way home. I'm to warn you that there were reports of Noxian activity south, southwest. Near the Southern pass to Noxus. You aren't exploring in that direction, hmm?"

 _Of all the places… Damn Noxians - I hate those guys._ I glanced over toward the wall, grateful that there were so many flags affixed to my map that it would be difficult to single one out.

"No, thankfully I'll be heading North, and then on toward the Freljord, actually," I said, giving Vi a slight smile and nod.

Vi smiled, and then laughed, "I'm not so sure. You expect me to believe you're heading to the Freljord with only that for a bedroll? Come on, Ez."

I frowned and felt the heat rise to my face, "Alright. Alright, look. What are you going to do? I haven't done anything wrong. I can handle a few Noxians. I've handled much worse in the past."

Vi crossed her arms and leaned back against the countertop,"I don't think I can, in good conscience, let you go. If Cait says there's danger, then I'm taking her word for it."

"Please, Vi? Can't you just say that I was gone when you arrived?" I asked. I ran a hand through my hair, doing my best to play up the pleading, exasperated look. The rumor was that Vi preferred women - although the extent to which that was true was unknown.

Vi gave me a mischievous smile, "You're cute, adventure boy. But Cait's twice the detective I could ever be. You think I could get away with lying to her?"

I hung my head and averted my eyes, "Alright. I guess I'll stay here and wait for more news about the southern mountains."

"Atta boy," Vi said, "So I have to ask, do you have a thing for Cait? She doesn't usually ask me to talk to people like this."

Vi gave me a friendly punch in the arm, and it seemed now that her smile was genuine - as if she was officially off-duty now. She took a few steps away from the countertop to draw closer, and in her platform wedge heels, she was slightly taller than me.

"Huh? Oh, no, uh, I don't know if I'm her type. Besides, I thought you and her were a thing?" I asked, and she turned as pink as her bubblegum. Or her hair. Or her nails. Man, this girl liked pink.

"Heh. Jayce tell you?" She asked. "We're in a… complicated relationship," she said.

"Does complicated mean open?" I asked, drawing out the first word. May as well aim high.

"Haha! And here I thought you were the shy type, pretty boy. If you asked Cait, she'd say ' _whom we do or do not bring into the relationship is solely our affair',_ " Vi said, imitating the Sheriff's accent, "But, yeah. Essentially."

Now it was my turn for a mischievous grin, "Good to know," I said, "So! I will stop by the station tomorrow and see if any new word has come in, then?"

Vi smiled, fully aware of my quick change of subject, "Sure. I'll look forward to it."

"Alright then. It was nice to talk with you, I think. Mostly. Despite the bad news," I said, hesitating between offering her a hand or gesturing for a hug. She took me up on the former, but pulled me into the latter - much to my surprise.

"Any friend of Cait and Jayce is a friend of mine," She said. "We should all get together sometime. After your adventure thing."

I nodded, "You'd have to host though. This isn't exactly a place for a barbeque."

"Right, I'm sure Caitlyn will invite you over to our place," she said, "Catch you later."

She winked at me and opened the door behind her, before heading out.

I couldn't help but grin as I grabbed my pack, put it over my shoulders, the envelope, the runestones, and abruptly arcane shifted outside.

Since I had visited this location before, the arcane shift across a semi-far distance wasn't as draining as it was normally. Still, I was a little winded, having shifted more than a mile. I was now outside the city limits, South of Piltover. Ahead of me loomed the base of the Ironspikes.

I glanced at the amulet on my glove, and the hexcomm device that I had been able to rig up around it. Unlike others, which were handheld, this one only had an interface projected by the arcane power of the amulet. Jayce had assisted me with it, and it was truly one of a kind.

There was no need to be checking it now, however. As magical as it was, hextechmaturgy was limited to the signals established in Piltover, Demacia, Ionia, and others. Zaun and her allies used a competing technology known simply as Nerus, named after a historical founder and scientist from Zaun.

Vi or Cait will probably call tomorrow, but by then I would be in the midst of the ironspikes - when I walked back within range of the city, I'd probably be bombarded with angry hexcomm calls. They'll forgive me. It wasn't vastly outside of my reputation to slip the rules, although disappointing Vi wasn't entirely what I wanted to do.

I started walking southwest, the fields quiet as I traversed them at a modest pace. Stopping not far from where I had been dropped off, I made sure to paint my face, under the eyes, to help with the sun.

I glanced at maps of the area, hoping I had made the correct notes earlier as to the location of this Altar. Considering I was north east of their location, I'd likely have to travel over some mountain passes. Goat trails, that kind of thing. Or walk through a few caves. Nothing I couldn't handle.

It was midday when the elevation started to rise. Luckily, it wasn't that hot outside ... at the same time, it might grow cold when I arrived near the destination.

From previous experience, I knew that the large mountain spiders and wolves near Noxus would sometimes attack travelers. Thankfully my mystic glove was always ready. Usually I just had to fire a mystic shot or an essence flux and they would disperse.

When it grew dark, I donned my goggles. The night vision let me find a good place to set up camp; a clearing to the side of a goat trail. A few skinny pine trees circled the area. Cautiously, I cleared the ground for my tent, setting up afterward.

I was glad I had slept earlier on the ride there, so I'd be more likely to wake if anything approached the tent, taking note of the shape of the clearing. I used mystic shots to break up some of the trees around me, gathering them into a pile, lighting a fire later using an essence flux. I remember when I taught myself to do this long ago, when I was very young, in the tunnels under Piltover. A smile lit my face as I heated up my rations, eating them when they were ready.

After cleaning up the food and making certain that the fire was cold, I slept.

The dawn awoke me, and I set out early.

The forested paths were a pleasant contrast to my desert hike yesterday, and more fruitful in terms of exploration as well. The shale and granite cliff faces in the area housed many carvings and paintings depicting a hulking, armored figure. They were still intricate and preserved, despite their age. When I stopped for lunch, I made a sketch of one of these pictograms. The top of the face housed the armored figure - perhaps this was the God of War himself. He seemed to drag a sword or other weapon behind him, trailing blood. But his eyes and face were downcast, and they had painted tears running from his eyes. It was the first time I had seen Noxians depict anything this way. There were a few runes carved alongside the image - one of them I recognized as "Ganthast" from the runestone my Uncle had given to me.

I retrieved the other two from my pack and compared them, but couldn't find any similarities. Perhaps the altar itself would have answers for me.

The bottom of the picture was some kind of altar, where a soldier - not the God of War, for his armor was very different and he used an axe - seemed to be fighting a shadow image of himself. This altar seemed to be housed in some kind of arena. Perhaps I'd find more images that would assist me along the way.

After lunch, the trail steadied out. I had reached some kind of plateau. The trails became less rocky and more packed with hard dirt, framed with evergreens. The thick smell of nature reminded me why I missed this place. As clean a city as Piltover was, nothing compared to the clean air of the pine - sprinkled wilderness. I spied the smoke of a campfire in the distance. It made sense - this was as idyllic a setting for camping as any.

 _Perhaps they'd like some company,_ I thought. It was along my way regardless.

It took me a good part of the afternoon to arrive at the former campsite. The smoke had all but cleared, and I could see the ashy remnants of the campfire on a granite shelf of the mountain. It extended a good ten or twelve feet before dropping off sharply, clearly caused by some quake years ago. I paused, examining the place from my trail, higher up on the mountain. There wasn't a tent there. Whomever had made camp had likely moved on.

"...think she's gone." said a gravelly voice from below. I knelt, obscuring myself behind some brush. A tentative gaze through the brush revealed soldiers in armor, bearing the crest of Noxus. My pulse raced, and I dropped my pack, steeling myself for the worst.

Behind them, a figure approached. I saw her platinum hair glinting slightly in the afternoon sun, her fragmented sword held tensely in her hand. She wore strange clothes, tight and black,which gave her feminine curves a military cast. A tight breastplate and shoulder guard completed the ensemble, along with her gauntlets, all in a black and red coloration. This girl looked familiar. I couldn't exactly place her, but something told me that I had seen her during my brief stint into diplomatic work.

I saw her lift her sword to her side, swinging it in a circular motion and jumping toward the soldier ahead of her. She cried out only as she was about to strike him, knocking both of them back with a devastating rain of blows. I watched closely. She knew what she was doing. Her outfit was very close to the soldier's in color and design, which is why it was so puzzling.

The way she nearly danced around the soldiers was beautiful to watch... the only thing that brought me back to reality was the very stark contrast between her grace and their blood spilling onto the granite.

She knelt at their sides, closing their eyes respectfully and folding their arms over their swords on their chests. She was whispering something now, but I was too far away to hear. A rite for the dead?

I looked down briefly to retrieve my pack, and when I looked up, I couldn't find her.

She was gone. I looked around me and stood up. The shelf was a wide, open spot along the trail, she really didn't have many places to go...

"Don't move!" A feminine voice said, behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know that it was her.


	3. Chapter 3: The Exile

_**Chapter 3 - The Exile**_

"I don't mean you any harm, " I said, raising my hands and opening my palms. All I could do was stare at the brush in front of me, not daring to try anything else. My mystic glove was ready to fire, but that would have involved turning around first - and I wasn't sure I wanted to fight this woman.

She said nothing for a moment, just stepping slightly closer. I attempted to turn around, but received a quick blow to the shoulder for my efforts. Thankfully it had been with a fist and not her sword - but it would still smart in the morning.

"Who are you? Are you following me?" She asked, interrupting my outcry of surprise and pain.

"No, no! I'm an explorer. Ezreal. From Piltover. Perhaps you've heard of me?" I asked.

 _It was worth a shot._

"I… You sound familiar," she said, the harshness draining from her voice. I sighed with relief.

"I was just up here searching for some ruins when I saw your campfire and heard the guards," I explained.

"Yeah," she said. Her voice quieted, and I heard the crunching of gravel and the ringing of metal.

"Can I turn around n-?" I asked, turning around. I saw her sitting in the gravel, her sword beside her unceremoniously dropped. Her face rested in her hands, and the retching motion of sobbing wracked her body. I paused for a moment, seeing rivulets of tears flow from under her gloves and onto her pants.

I moved closer to her and knelt there.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I attempted. I wanted to put a hand on her shoulder, but she probably wouldn't feel it because of her armor, and I had a feeling she may lash out at the unexpected touch. For now I kept a distance of a few feet.

 _What could possibly have triggered this?_ I wondered. The questions seemed to flow as easily as her tears. She seemed to hear me, turning toward my voice, but didn't respond.

"You know my name is Ezreal. Can I get yours?" I asked, stretching out my hand. I had a feeling it might be there for a while.

She wiped downward on her face, trying to clean up her tears with her gloves. It seemed that she was wearing intense black and red eye makeup, which was now slightly smeared downward. Despite our circumstances, I noticed the allure and attempt at war-paint-like intimidation. Riven finally noticed my hand and shook it; our mutual glove-wearing meant that it was a rather slippery handshake, but even so I could tell that Riven was less than enthused about anything at this point.

 _I can certainly understand why._ I recalled her recent victims.

"I'm Riven," she said with a sniffle, rubbing her nose briefly, "I am - was - an agent for Noxus. Now I don't know what I am. Lost."

Riven sighed and leaned back on the rocks and removed her helmet and arming cap, revealing a crop of stark white hair.

"...I feel bad for hurting you, Ezreal. I'm sorry." She said, averting her gaze.

"It's alright, Riven. Just don't make a habit of it. That was one hell of a punch. Can I ask why you're out here anyway? Then I suppose I can tell you why I'm here." I asked. I spied a large boulder a few feet away and sat there, gesturing for her to join me.

She looked up at me and sighed, then nodded. As she picked up her sword and helm, I took the opportunity to examine her outfit. The tight leather of her pants and boots hugged her form closely - I could tell how toned she was even through her outfit. It was difficult to focus on the situation at hand. Her gait was slow, but it still displayed the refined grace I had witnessed in her combat earlier.

"I was so dumb. Just another recruit for the Noxian war machine. We set out for the invasion of Ionia - I'm sure you know all about it. This was a few months ago. I was a brand new lieutenant, leading a platoon of twenty. I saw a few skirmishes with success, and then we met up with the bulk of the army in the Jyom pass. We were to follow these Zaunite war machines into battle. Of course, I followed the orders. The fighting started...," she said, averting her hazel colored eyes.

"Gods, I'm getting sick just thinking about it. The fog of poison floated over the battlefield, and it didn't discriminate. Noxian, Ionian, Zaunite… cat, rat, innocent civilian - they all died! I was barely able to crawl away from that place. Eventually I learned that we had won that battle, although we lost the war later. I was captured by the enemy, but they tended to my injuries and released me following the news. Since I was the only survivor in my platoon, I was commended for bravery and made a member of the Crimson Elite. Hence this outfit. But I couldn't take it any more. Noxus didn't mean anything to me anymore. Where was the honor and courage in letting that bastard Singed poison us all? I was a fool, and a pawn," she said.

I realized just how different Riven and I were. Or perhaps, how different we once were. As for who Riven was now, I could only hope she had left the Noxian bloodlust behind.

"I can't imagine, Riven. I'm sorry to hear that," I said, feeling about as relevant to her as the trees I had walked by on the way up this mountain.

She looked at me and nodded, and for a moment I saw the hard edge of her frown subside, "After joining the Elite, I was assigned to track some Demacian diplomat. I can't even remember who. I couldn't kill for them again. So I ran. Of course, they sent my brothers in the Crimson Elite after me. Now their corpses lay on that cliffside you first saw me on. Now I have no home."

"How long have you been out here?" I asked. I didn't know much of Riven's history, but I could tell she was being sincere.

"Two days. I was able to hunt something and kill it. I just ran out of food this morning and had to resort to building a fire. Which alerted them. Stupid of me..." She said.

"You must be hungry, then. I wouldn't mind sharing with you later tonight." I said, then added, "I've seen you before. I was the 'advisor of scholarly and archaeological interests' to one of Piltover's ambassadors, and I believe you were one of the guards to an ambassador from Noxus. I wanted to be friendly and say hello, but you seemed like you were all business."

"I remember that. About as exciting as watching paint dry. I would've welcomed the variety in company, honestly," she said. I thought she might have smiled, but she cleared her throat and stood up, putting on her padded arming cap and helmet.

"So. You're an explorer - what are you out here for, Ezreal?" She asked, looking back at me.

"It's kind of a long shot, but I'm looking for an ancient Noxian altar. Something about the old God of War," I said, pulling out my traveler's journal and flipping through the pages.

"You mean Ganthast?" She asked, moving a little closer to me to get a closer look at the journal.

"The very one. Maybe you holding me hostage was a good thing after all..." I said, laughing a bit.

She responded with a nervous laugh of her own, looking downward. It was a little strange to see the way Riven acted. She had been so assertive and deadly when she had killed those guards, but now she seemed more shy and understanding. Perhaps she felt repentant about her earlier mistake.

I gestured to the sketch I had made earlier in my journal, showing her the sad armored figure and the depiction of the altar. She had drawn closer to get a look at it, and although she smelled of sweat, steel, and leather, I couldn't deny that it was not altogether an unpleasant smell.

"Yes, Ganthast. He's an old God. Not many Noxians still worship him. I heard he had an altar up here, and I've always wanted to see it," She said, her tone introspective as she looked at the runes on her broken sword. It amazed me, the appearance of that weapon. When it had been whole, the sword must have been absolutely massive.

"So you haven't been there before? Perhaps you could help me find it?" I asked her.

"Well… I guess being with you is the safest place for me right now. I don't have anywhere else to go. Those two were the only ones able to track me to this location, but I'm worried there might be more. I don't know if it's safe for me to join you, Ezreal. I would hate to cause you more harm," she said.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I've faced my share of enemies on my travels. Besides, I'm not totally helpless, see?" I said, firing off an essence flux for show. Riven was mildly surprised at the wave of energy.

"Alright, I guess it would be nice to have a traveling companion. My things are in the cave down there." She told me, gesturing from our vantage point to the place I had first seen her. I would've taken the moment to admire the impressive view of the forested valley from the cliff shelf, but I was immediately reminded of the corpses as we moved toward them.

"What should we do with them?" I asked.

She walked past them and retrieved her pack before answering, looking at their armored forms before turning to me.

"Do you have enough energy to burn them to ashes?" She asked.

"I… Not their armor and weapons," I said after brief consideration. "But there is a river just down the path. We could throw them in it. It could be a while before they surfaced, and there are many feeds for the lake downstream. It would be hard to track a single source."

"That should work. How far?" she said.

"Not more than a hundred yards up the pathway," I said, gesturing over my shoulder. She walked toward one of the deceased's legs and picked him up by his ankles. Riven's sword had parted the man from the top of his skull after knocking off his helm. To prevent myself from getting sick, I put it back on, but could still feel the gelatinous texture underneath the thin sheet of metal.

"Your sword is broken. Should we take one of theirs?" I said.

Riven looked at her own broken blade, and then at the man's sword. It had a similar design, although it wasn't as hefty as hers had been when it was whole. They were both clearly hacking weapon - broad blades with minimal taper toward the point. She nodded and started to remove the man's belt.

"Would you mind removing his cloak? I want to keep my old sword… One day I should be able to reforge it," she said. I obliged, using the other soldier's sword to cut the bulk of it from his form - then I handed it to her. She wrapped her old sword's hilt in it and put it in her pack.

We picked him up again - the body was heavy, still covered in armor. I was relieved when we reached the river. It wasn't very wide - barely more than a stream. We tossed him into the flowing water on the count of three, watching to make sure that he floated along without an issue. Then, we did the same with his companion. Slowly, the bodies and the red streaks they left behind drifted beyond vision.

Riven knelt next to the bank of the stream. She removed her gloves, arming cap, and helmet and ran her hands through the water a few times before bringing some up to her face, washing the makeup from her eyes and face. Her white hair, slick with sweat, spiked up in the back at crazy angles. I took the opportunity to refill my waterskin upstream.

"I think it's about dinnertime. Help me with a fire?" I asked.

Riven's gaze was fixed downstream, but she managed a nod and said, "Sure."

We both started to make our way back to the cave Riven had taken up shelter in, and she started to gather up a few stones along the way.

Riven was uncommonly gorgeous - not exactly what one might expect from a person who used to serve in the Noxian military. So attractive, it made me a bit nervous around her. I shook it off, knowing I had more important things to do. I walked back up the trail a ways, knowing there were some dead shrubs up that way.

The dead pine needles scattered along the trail ignited instantly from the energy wave emitted by my gauntlet. The heat spread slowly to the larger pieces of wood we had gathered, and shortly afterward, we were able to cook my rations in the small pot on the coals.

"Ez, are you sure you'll have enough if you keep sharing with me?" Riven asked, looking at me. The fire reflected in her eyes, tinting them orange.

"Don't worry about it. My uncle always insists that I pack extra. I don't think this expedition will take more than a few more days, and I have a week and half's worth," I said. Riven nodded.

"Maybe we can hunt if we need to," she said.

We ate without saying much more. I couldn't bring myself to ask her anything else - it all seemed so personal, and she likely deserved some silence after what she had gone through.

"Thanks for the food. I'm really not sure what I would've done if you weren't here," she said, looking over and giving me a small smile. Riven stood up and started to remove her breastplate, gloves, and helmet, carrying them over to her cave.

"Ez, I can take care of cleaning the cookware if you want. I'm going to go down to the stream for a bath," she said, picking up her pack, along with the cooling pot and ladle, stained with remnants of food.

"Alright, sure. I appreciate that. Hey, if you don't want to sleep in a cave when you get back, you can share my tent," I said. There was no doubt in my mind that I was blushing now. I could feel the heat rising to my face, although I hadn't intended anything suggestive.

"Oh. No, I wouldn't want to impose. Thanks, though," she said, blushing a bit in response. She flashed me a smile before departing for the river.

At this point, the fire was only smoldering coals, so I doused it with a little water and smothered it with a handful of dry dirt. While I watched the water mix with the embers, swirling in black and red, I considered if I was making the right decision. Was letting Riven into my life, even as shallow as our relationship was so far, a good idea? And was it truly shallow? I could admit infatuation, but was there more? I shifted the ash over with my boot, covering the water. My thoughts wandered back to my encounter with a certain pinkette before I had departed.

 _How right you were, Vi, although even Caitlyn couldn't have predicted this outcome…_

I'll just complete this expedition, and see what Riven does. It wasn't like I could leave her - and I certainly didn't want to.

I began setting up my tent not far from the cave entrance. The cave wasn't very big - barely big enough to provide adequate sleeping shelter, in fact - and I didn't want to encroach on Riven's privacy. I wondered, if we moved along the trail, she may have to share the tent with me regardless of her desires to the contrary, and then it would really be quite cozy. It didn't have much extra room aside from my bedroll and gear. Once I had placed all of my gear inside the tent, I retrieved my travel journal and a pen and sat on the now cold fire stones.

I drew a small picture of the area, indicating its coordinates on the more official map, and added a small note that I had met "a certain exiled warrior". On the previous page, I saw the drawings of the pictographs from my earlier travels, making a note to ask Riven about them once she returned.

My rough sketch of the cliffside view was just taking shape when Riven returned, wearing a new set of clothes and looking altogether refreshed. It seems that her bath had helped her create mental distance, and it must have been a relief for her to wash the blood of the soldiers off of her. I stood up and approached her, reaching out a hand for the now clean cookware. The sun had fully set now, and I had to use the light from my amulet to illuminate the area.

"Thanks, Riv. How was it?" I asked, taking the pot from her, which contained all of the various culinary instruments.

"Pretty cold, honestly. It's nice to wear something new, though. What is that? I've wondered since earlier?" Riven asked, reaching out to touch my amulet-bearing glove gently.

"Oh. I found it on one of my first expeditions. Originally, it must have been intended for some God-Prince of Shurima. Something not quite human, I think. It acts a conduit for my innate sorcery. When I first happened upon it, I wondered if it was dangerous - but when I touched it, the stone spoke to me. In a way," I said. Riven raised a brow, and I realized I must sound silly.

"It sounds strange, but the magic felt like it was meant for me, as it were," I said.

"In a way, it sounds like my sword. When it was first made, it seemed to bond with me. The runes along the blade glowed like fire. But it had a mind of its own, inspiring hatred… That's why I shattered it," she said, her voice growing quiet. She made her way over to her cave and placed her breastplate, gauntlet, and helmet in front of her bedroll, undoing the belt that held the sheathed stolen sword as well.

I looked with concern at the blade she had taken from the slain Noxian, "What about that sword? Does it hold the same magic?"

Riven was shaking her head halfway through the sentence, "No, this one is just a piece of metal, thankfully. So, what were you drawing?"

I opened my journal and held it toward Riven as she walked back over to me, illuminating the drawing of the cliffside and a small sketch of a map.

"Not bad, Ezreal. If it was bigger, you could hang that on a wall. What of our eventual destination?" She asked.

"Thanks. I don't think we're far from the altar. My map of the area says that it could be across the next ridge," I said, gesturing to the ridge.

"Here we go. Then there's the river, and across that, there's a trail upward. My guess, from my research, would be that it's up that trail a bit."

Riven's brow furrowed, "That could be - but a more likely place might be further down this trail, below the waterfall. It'd be a better position tactically." She explained, gesturing at the map with a finger. She had to step closer to me to do so.

"We'll check both places, then." I said, nodding a bit and making a note in my travel journal.

"I think I'm going to turn in for the night. See you bright and early, hmm?" Riven said, giving me a one-armed hug. It caught me by surprise, but I reciprocated eventually, smiling as I did.

"Sounds like a plan. Sleep well," I said. She separated from me, and walked into the cave, ducking inside and tending to her bedroll. I ducked inside my tent and undressed. It had been a long day on the trail, and it wouldn't be long before sleep found me.


End file.
